Find a short-term rental in Berlin
An overview of furnished apartments and short term rentals in Berlin.
This is a list of required documents to rent a flat in Germany:
- A cover letter saying who you are and what you do. Landlords prefer long-term rentals so you should make it clear that you intend to stay for a longer period of time. You want to leave a good impression. The cover letter is where you can raise sympathies with the landlord.
- Copy of your passport or your identity card.
- Proof of income: copies of bank slips from the last three months proving that you have positive cash flow from a salary or similar. Self-employed people should add a copy of their last tax declaration.
- Proof of rent payment: you always paid the rent on time? Let your former landlord fill out this proof of rent payment template to prove that you are a reliable tenant.
- If possible a letter from your employer about the end of the probation period. This signals to the landlord that you have a stable job contract.
- A rental guarantee (Mietbürgschaft). Useful in case you don't have a stable income but parents or somebody else who can vouch for you. You can download a template for a rental guarantee here. This is required when students want to rent a flat in Berlin.
Credit score
The Schufa is the leading German credit score agency and has become the standard for credit reports in Germany. A Schufa file is created automatically for you once you register at the Bürgeramt, when opening a bank account or for a cell phone contract.
You have a few options to get your credit score:
- Get the official SCHUFA-Bonitätsauskunft or credit report by print mail here for 30.- Euro. This takes a few days.
- The Schufa is obliged by law to send you the data they have on you for free by print mail so you might as well request your data by article 15 of the DS-GVO for free.
- You can alternatively try the Schufa credit score form from immobilienscout24.de which also costs 30.- Euro but you can print it immediately. This does not necessarily work for everyone.
- Another option is to locate a Volksbank or Postbank branch and ask them to print it for you.
Make at least 20 copies of these documents and take them with you when visiting flats in Berlin. We wish you good luck!
